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A review by bianca89279
French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain
4.0
'French Rhapsody' is my third Antoine Laurain novel/novella I've read this year.
I love novels where different characters's stories/lives intersect either serendipitously or on purpose. Antoine Laurain is very good at putting together such stories.
In the "French Rhapsody', Alain Massoulier, a general practitioner (doctor) receives a letter 33 years later. The letter could have changed his and his friends' destinies when they were in their early 20s and were trying to make it in the music world as the new wave, cold wave band the Holograms.
So Alain is trying to get in touch with his former bandmates, to see if any of them still have the recording that could have propelled them to fame. While doing this, we come to meet many other characters. It's interesting to note how all of them had chosen different paths: an economist, a hotel owner, an extreme right wing nut-job politician, an art/antique dealer and a large-scale sculpture artist.
Some of the characters were more interesting than others. I must confess I found it hard reading the extreme right-wing's character's incessant speech and hate monologues, so I kind of skimmed over that part. Another character that plays a big part in this novel is JBM, a very accomplished businessman. It's obvious that Antoine Laurain, like most people, is disillusioned with the state of the French politics and the career politicians who don't have much of a backbone. So he created JBM, who's too good to be true, short of a fantasy of what a good politician should be.
As with all previous Antoine Laurain novels, nostalgia is present throughout this book.
While this novel wasn't as charming and well put together as 'The Red Notebook' and 'The President's Hat', it was still a very enjoyable read.
Looking forward to reading 'The Portrait', which comes out in July 2017.
I've received this novel via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Gallic Books for the opportunity to read this novel and also for sending me the paperback novel (I entered a newsletter competition).
I love novels where different characters's stories/lives intersect either serendipitously or on purpose. Antoine Laurain is very good at putting together such stories.
In the "French Rhapsody', Alain Massoulier, a general practitioner (doctor) receives a letter 33 years later. The letter could have changed his and his friends' destinies when they were in their early 20s and were trying to make it in the music world as the new wave, cold wave band the Holograms.
So Alain is trying to get in touch with his former bandmates, to see if any of them still have the recording that could have propelled them to fame. While doing this, we come to meet many other characters. It's interesting to note how all of them had chosen different paths: an economist, a hotel owner, an extreme right wing nut-job politician, an art/antique dealer and a large-scale sculpture artist.
Some of the characters were more interesting than others. I must confess I found it hard reading the extreme right-wing's character's incessant speech and hate monologues, so I kind of skimmed over that part. Another character that plays a big part in this novel is JBM, a very accomplished businessman. It's obvious that Antoine Laurain, like most people, is disillusioned with the state of the French politics and the career politicians who don't have much of a backbone. So he created JBM, who's too good to be true, short of a fantasy of what a good politician should be.
As with all previous Antoine Laurain novels, nostalgia is present throughout this book.
While this novel wasn't as charming and well put together as 'The Red Notebook' and 'The President's Hat', it was still a very enjoyable read.
Looking forward to reading 'The Portrait', which comes out in July 2017.
I've received this novel via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Gallic Books for the opportunity to read this novel and also for sending me the paperback novel (I entered a newsletter competition).